It's that time of year again, and I've got the travel bug! The adventures will begin with the whole family in Vietnam and Cambodia. After my dad flies home, my ma, sister, and I will explore the beaches of Thailand. Then, my sister and I are let loose to roam Southeast Asia heading towards Nepal and northern India. Mid April I fly to Zambia to volunteer for a month at Appeased School before starting work in San Francisco. Ready or not, HERE I COME!

Sunday, February 9, 2014

The Suicide Walk

Crossing the street in Vietnam is a feat in its own. Cars,
motorbikes, and bicycles zoom past you. The rule of the thumb is the bigger
vehicle is responsible. For example, if a car and a motorbike get in an
accident, no matter what, it’s the car’s fault. If a bicycle and a motorbike
get in an accident, it’s the motorbike’s fault, and so on. So, as a pedestrian,
even if you cross the street when it’s a green light for the cars, it is never
your fault. I don’t suggest it, but if you shut your eyes and walked at a
constant rate, you will most likely get across the street safely.

Most all cars stop at red lights, but only some motorbikes
and bicycles. Instead, they honk their horn and proceed through the
intersection as if it were a green light. The intersections look like schools
of fish intersecting, each fish swerves a different way and somehow they all
continue on their journey without hitting one another.

On the highway, the direction on the lanes don’t mean much.
Some cars drive half way in two different lanes, sometimes you’re on the left
side of the road (this is a right-side-driving country), and most of the time
you’re grabbing the oh-shit-bar and hoping for the best. It is like the roads
that have a center lane with a green arrow or a red X depending on which
direction is the busiest during rush hour. Though, here there are no signs and
both directions assume the center lane is their lane.